As Arizona grows, so does the demand for places to live, work and connect. And with over 14% of the state’s gross domestic product attributed to the real estate market, it’s a crucial industry for the state and one that ASU is increasingly equipped to support.

On April 10, W. P. Carey alumni, students, faculty and industry members gathered for the business school’s REImagine Real Estate Conference to celebrate the new W. P. Carey Center for Real Estate and Finance.

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The event included presentations about the center’s mission to become a leading authority for real estate education, the business school’s new Bachelor of Science in real estate and applied finance, and conversations with industry experts on national and local real estate trends.

Last fall, the W. P. Carey Foundation’s $25 million commitment to ASU elevated the center through naming and expansion and introduced an experiential learning lab devoted to real estate. The gift pushed the foundation’s total giving to W. P. Carey over $100 million and will provide a physical space for the lab, support the launch of the school’s innovative undergraduate degree, and establish a named faculty position — the W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair in Real Estate and Finance.

Charles J. Robel Dean Ohad Kadan shared W. P. Carey’s vision for the center and its goal to become the best real estate program in the nation. He emphasized W. P. Carey’s three strengths: educating students, producing knowledge and creating research best practices. The center will be a bridge between these spaces and related industries while providing experiential learning opportunities to tomorrow’s industry leaders.

“There is so much you can teach in the classroom … but unless we bring you into our classrooms, we have not really prepared students for their careers,” said Kadan, the W. P. Carey Distinguished Chair in Business. “So the new curriculum, the new center, will do exactly that: bring you into our classrooms in different ways.”

ASU educating tomorrow’s real estate leaders

The event began with a fireside chat between Kadan and Lawrence H. Summers, economist and former U.S. secretary of the Treasury, on the state of the nation’s real estate industry. Summers commented on how recent tariffs will impact U.S. real estate and how the Valley’s data centers could lead to substantial growth in Arizona. He predicted a 60% chance that the nation will enter a recession by the end of 2025.

Following Summers and Kadan’s discussion, W. P. Carey Foundation Chairman and President William P. Carey II expressed his excitement for the bachelor’s degree in real estate and applied finance, which will provide students with the skills to tackle industry trends and challenges.

“When I look at what we’re about to do … I’m excited about the future of our industry. We’re going to be creating the leaders of tomorrow,” Carey said.

Building on Carey’s remarks, Mark Stapp, Fred E. Taylor Endowed Professor and director of the Master of Real Estate Development program and Experiential Learning Lab, presented the school’s strategic plan for preparing those leaders with the help of experiential learning.

“There are opportunities for us to leverage technology and relationships in a way that we can teach like no other program teaches,” said Stapp.

The Experiential Learning Lab is designed to utilize those resources while developing partnerships, tools and opportunities for faculty to prepare students to enter the field.

Kimberly Winson, clinical professor of finance, shared an overview of the real estate undergraduate degree. The program draws on courses offered through W. P. Carey’s real estate minor and will incorporate finance principles like business economics and investment and property expertise. All courses will be applicable toward students’ Arizona Department of Real Estate license requirements.

Winson outlined how important experiential learning will be to the program, with one unique component of the degree being an applied project. One standout project includes managing a $900,000 REIT portfolio and preparing a Wall Street-style executive summary of the stock analysis.

Several industry experts participated in panel discussions on trends in homebuilding and retail real estate, and the event concluded with a conversation with ASU Football Coach Kenny Dillingham on leadership and building community culture.

Learn more about the W. P. Carey Center for Real Estate and Finance and the Bachelor of Science in real estate and applied finance.